What I Gave Up for Lent

For Lent I decided to give up fashion shopping.  I am interested in fashion for fun, as an artistic/creative project, and as a means of cultural subversion.  It is something like a hobby for me, and I like to come up with creative, unique outfits.  I like to keep an eye on trends, certain brands I like, and street style.  I think on average, I probably buy something new approximately every month, usually online.  I'm trying to buy more and more second hand because it is more sustainable, and you can often find more unique and/or better quality items than in a chain or fast fashion store.

However, recently, I had come to realize that (1) I needed to save more money and (2) I felt like I was becoming ruled by shopping and always needing to buy something to feel like I was being 'current' and on top of developing my style and being a true practicing 'fashionista.'

When something starts to feel like it is controlling you instead of you controlling it, or stops feeling like fun, and begins interfering with your life and your sense of happiness, it's time to reexamine your relationship with that activity and change your habits.

I felt like this was appropriate to give up for Lent because I think our culture of consumerism and materialism is wrong and morally unhealthy.  Being interested in fashion can be a fraught hobby regarding this.  I felt like I was getting away from the positive, underlying things I liked about fashion and sinking into the negative and selfish ones.  Pope Francis asked us to fast from indifference to others this Lent;  and I felt like I could be more appreciative of the people in the fashion world, of myself, and of all the blessings in my life and become more in tune with how my actions were contributing to negative forces in our world if I were to fast from fashion.

Here are some of the things I observed so far:

Poem: dragon claw

For lent, instead of giving something up, I decided I would try to write for an hour every day.  It's ok if I just write a sentence or a couple lines as long as I legitimately tried for an hour.

Well, I've already totally failed at this.  It went pretty well (in that I did it, not in the sense that I actually wrote anything good or even coherent) for four days.  And then I took a seven day hiatus.

But I'm going to make another stab at it, and today I actually churned out another poem.

I'm still not sure about the third stanza (and maybe the first---and maybe also the fifth), but the third stanza (and the fifth, if I'm bragging) has come a long way in the past 45mins so I'm feeling pretty satisfied with myself for today.




dragon claw

I'll grab the land
furrows and all.
crumple the paper without mercy
or pull the rug out from under them?

it's too bad people won't be in on the fun
when their ugly walls fall backwards.
they'll keep their outstretched arms tucked behind their backs
because there wasn't much love for those walls anyway.

All it takes is a strong shoulder and a webbed elbow
to sweep in a fresh ocean of air.
A shock to their lungs perhaps
but at some point I have to stop waiting.

I'll have to dig the life out from under my nails.
It sounds horrific, but it's really the most natural thing in the world.

I've always wondered what lies beneath the surface.
for some reason I don't have high hopes.
Eventually,
It will be easy to blame me for everything,
just when everyone is feeling lucky with a chance to start again.

I'm no fool.